Developing and Communicating the Strategic Action Plan
Create an 8-10 slide PowerPoint presentation for an executive audience that outlines an action plan your selected organization will use to achieve its strategic goals and communicate the plan to stakeholders. You will record yourself presenting the slides in an audio or video recording of 5 minutes or less in length.
Introduction
Note: Each assessment in this course builds upon the work you have completed in previous assessments. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in the order they are presented.
In your previous assessments, you examined how today's health care organizations prepare themselves for the present and the future through strategic management. Specifically, you analyzed how a health care organization's external and internal environments affect its operations.
The next step is to consider an action plan to achieve the organization's strategic objectives and to communicate it to stakeholders.
Full Answer Section
Approach to this Clinical Case:
My approach to this clinical case would be
patient-centered, comprehensive, and collaborative, while also firmly adhering to evidence-based guidelines and managing parental expectations.
- Initial De-escalation and Active Listening (Managing Parental Demands):
- Acknowledge the parents' concerns and their desire for a quick solution, but gently reframe the initial focus to a comprehensive evaluation.
- "I understand you're looking for solutions quickly, and you believe medication might be the answer. My priority is to thoroughly understand your son's difficulties and ensure we arrive at the most effective and safe treatment plan for him."
- Emphasize that a proper diagnosis requires time and a multi-faceted assessment, not just prescribing medication based on presenting complaints. This sets expectations from the outset.
- Gathering Comprehensive Information (Multi-informant Approach):
- Interview with Parents:
- Obtain a detailed history of the child's symptoms: onset, duration, pervasiveness across settings (home, school, social), impact on academic performance, peer relationships, and family dynamics.
- Ask about developmental milestones, medical history (including birth history, previous illnesses, head injuries), family history of ADHD or other psychiatric disorders, substance use, and learning disabilities.
- Explore specific examples of inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive behaviors.
- Interview with Child:
- Speak with the 13-year-old separately to gather his perspective on his challenges, how they affect him, his feelings about school, friends, and family. This also helps build rapport and assess his insight.
- Observe his behavior during the interview (e.g., restlessness, distractibility, ability to sustain attention).
- Information from School: This is critical. Request permission from parents to contact the school (teachers, counselors) to obtain information about academic performance, classroom behavior, social interactions, and specific difficulties observed in that setting. School reports are essential for confirming pervasiveness and impact in another major setting.
- Rule-Out Other Conditions:
- Consider and rule out other potential causes for the symptoms, such as anxiety disorders, depression, learning disabilities, sleep disorders, trauma, medical conditions (e.g., thyroid issues, anemia), or even environmental factors (e.g., chaotic home environment, bullying).
- Administering Standardized Assessment Tools:
- Explain the need for objective measures beyond subjective reporting.
- Administer the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale to both parents and teachers (if permission is granted).
Sample Answer
Neurotransmitters Involved in ADHD:
The primary neurotransmitters implicated in ADHD are
Dopamine and
Norepinephrine (Noradrenaline).
- Dopamine: Plays a crucial role in reward, motivation, pleasure, executive functions (like attention, planning, impulse control), and motor control. In ADHD, there's believed to be dysregulation in the dopamine pathways, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and striatum, leading to impaired executive functions and difficulties with sustained attention and impulse control.
- Norepinephrine: Contributes to attention, arousal, vigilance, and the "fight-or-flight" response. Dysregulation in norepinephrine pathways in the prefrontal cortex is also thought to contribute to problems with focus, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
While less definitively established,
Serotonin also plays a role in mood regulation, impulsivity, and anxiety, which can be co-occurring symptoms with ADHD. Some research suggests its involvement in modulating dopamine and norepinephrine systems